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Rodgers hails convincing victory

Brendan Rodgers believes Swansea City were 'outstanding' following their 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

The Welsh side controlled large parts of the game and recorded their third away victory of the season thanks to an impressive double from Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.

"It was a convincing win," Rodgers said. "I thought we were outstanding today, we showed every element of our game."

"Some of our play was outstanding and obviously we scored two goals and could've had three or four."

"When we had the man (Nathan Dyer) sent off we had to show other side of our game. I still felt we had great control but we didn’t have the ball so much but we restricted them to very few chances."

Rodgers heaped praise on Sigurdsson, who scored a stunning long-range effort in the final seconds of the first half and doubled his tally with an excellent free kick to secure the three points.

"Glyfi creates goals and scores goals," Rodgers said. "He's a midfield player who’s instinct is to score goals, and in this league you need players with those qualities."

"Possession is no good on its own, you have to have penetration and Gylfi gives us that."

"He's been a huge plus since he's come in, it's what he’s here to for to create and score goals and he does that masterfully."

Despite the defeat, Wigan boss Martinez was also full of praise for Swansea's performance and cited the midweek international friendlies as part of the reason why his side failed to deliver.

"Physically we couldn't cope," Martinez said. "Give credit to Swansea, they took the goals extremely well, especially the first one and that’s the reason we lost the game."

"They were clinical with the two goals and that’s been a real good cushion. They made it very frustrating for us, we got really anxious, and I think the position in the table showed too much in our environment."

"It's a result that I need to take responsibility (for), we were not anywhere near the level we showed against Villa, Bolton and Everton."

"It's a reality check but we need to get ready for last 11 games, we know what we have to do and now is the time to focus on that."

"(We had) people arriving last night from seven, eight, nine hour flights and we’ve had eight players away but that’s not an excuse it’s a reality."

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Premier League preview: Wigan v Swansea

Wigan welcome Swansea City to DW Stadium on Saturday as their English Premier League relegation battle continues.

Roberto Martinez's men are anchored to the bottom of the table, but have maintained touch with safety after a run of three league matches without defeat.

A win at home to promoted Swansea would see them out of the bottom three, while Brendan Rodgers' 14th-placed side will also be keen to move further clear of the drop zone.

The Spaniard, who was forced to defend the state of the DW Stadium pitch after Aston Villa striker Darren Bent's injury during the 0-0 draw between the teams, wants his team to improve on their record of just one win from 13 home league matches.

But Rodgers warned it was also a huge encounter for his side, who have lost two straight league games and are nine points clear of Blackburn Rovers.

"There are only 12 games left now and I'm sure Wigan will have a big motivation," Rodgers said.

"It's massive for them, but it's massive for us as well. Every game is a big one for us from now on, even though we are 10 points clear of Wigan at the moment."

"When you play a rival who is down there, you want to keep that distance between you in terms of points. Whichever way you look at it, Saturday is a big game."

Wigan have scored a league-worst 23 goals this season, and have struggled to keep teams out despite the strong form of goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi.

The Omani shot-stopper has produced several excellent performances to keep Wigan in games this campaign, while he has also saved five of the last 10 penalties he has faced in the Premier League.

Swansea's Michel Vorm has been just as good, keeping nine clean sheets, and could return from a virus for the trip to Wigan.

While the Dutchman has starred at one end of the park, it has been Danny Graham (10 league goals) and Scott Sinclair (seven) impressing up front.

Rodgers is almost certain to welcome back Vorm, but Kemy Agustien, Andrea Orlandi and Ferrie Bodde are likely to be sidelined through injury.

Wigan have a full squad available as they look to improve their poor home record.